Joseph Bell, Jr.

Biography

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bell-6391

He and his first wife, Mary Ann "Polly" Nelson, a daughter of Alexander Nelson and Ann Mathews (daughter of Sampson Mathews and Mary Lockhart) were married at the bride’s home, Popular Grove, 6 miles northeast of Staunton, Augusta, VA. They made their home in Bell’s Valley, Rockbridge, VA, where he engaged in farming and acquired a large acreage of land which is said to extended along the valley from the Rockbridge-Augusta line southwest to Goshen, and which he subsequently divided among his children. He is said to have built several homes, two of which are “Bell View”, built in 1815, and “Cameron Hall” built later, both of which he loved in with his family. Bell View was given to his son Wm. Harvey Bell, who sold it in 1858 to Samuel Miller, who in 1861 sold it to S.M. Dickenson, whose descendants still (1954) live in it. Cameron Hall near Goshen VA, was the home of Joseph Bell at the time of his death. He and his first wife, and 26 of their relatives were buried in a small private graveyard on a knoll near Cameron Hall. This farm passed out of the Bell family about 1941 when it was sold by Addison “Ad” Davidson Bell. Lebanon Presbyterian Church, in Bell’s Valley, was built on land acquired by Joseph Bell from John Bratten, in 1812, and deeded to the trustees of the church, 16 September 1816. The first pastor of this church was Rev. John Montgomery, who for a time taught Liberty Hall Academy and whose son John Montgomery Jr. was a brother-in-law of Joseph Bell. Joseph Bell was given a license to operate a tavern in 1826 He was a justice of the Peace in Rockbridge County 1817-1843 and sheriff in 1845. [1]

He had 15 children. They were:

1. Alexander Nelson Bell Born 5 May 1801 – Died 22 January 1875
2. Betsy Henderson Bell Born 3 February 1803 – Died 7 October 1806
3. David Henderson Bell Born 15 October 1804 – Died 20 October 1804
4. Joseph Washington Bell Born 29 March 1806 – Died 15 October 1806
5. Thomas Addison Bell Born 11 July 1807 – Died 13 November 1890
6. Anne Mathews Bell Born 26 April 1809 – Died 13 May 1876
7. William Harvey Bell Born 29 October 1810 – Died 7 December 1878
8. Joseph George Washington Bell Born 22 February 1813 – Died 23 October 1855
9. John Marshall Bell Born 22 February 1815 – Died 24 April 1890
10. Johnston Ewing Bell Born 16 December 1816 – Died 7 October 1898
11. Susan Elizabeth Wayt Bell Born 11 September 1818 – Died 29 December 1893
12. Betsy Jane Bell Born 3 September 1820 – Died 2 April 1827
13. Mary Caroline Lockhart Bell Born 13 September 1822 – Died 10 July 1898
14. James Franklin Bell Born 7 September 1824 – Died 2 April 1856
15. David Henderson Bell Born 15 April 1826 – Died 2 March 1905

Their descendants are further identified at [2]

A WPA project done in the 1930's focused on the Cameron Hall property. It can be viewed at http://image.lva.virginia.gov/VHI/html/24/0133.html

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/76623618/joseph-bell

The Greenbrier Era, Lewisburg, Virginia
Tuesday, May 1, 1855, page 2
DIED At his residence, in Goshen, in the Little Calf Pastures, Rockbridge Co, on the 18th inst, Mr Joseph Bell, Sr, aged 76 years and 11 months.
Contributor: Anonymous (48825891)

Joseph Bell, Jr., was the son of Joseph Bell, Sr. and Elizabeth Henderson. He married Mary Ann Nelson (1785-1841), the daughter of Alexander Nelson and Ann Mathews, on 1 Jun 1800 and second to Margaret Walker on 13 Jun 1842.

On the 1850 District 51, Rockbridge Co., VA census, I found farmer Joseph Bell, 70; Margaret Bell, 50 and Mary B Wright, 16, all VA born. They lived next to son James F Bell, 25 and his family. Nearby was Susan E W (Bell) Goodloe and her family. They were all VA born.

He built "Bell View" and the brick mansion "Cameron Hall" located in Goshen. Joseph and his family are buried on the knoll, near his final home, Cameron Hall. He also help establish Lebanon Presbyterian Church by giving them land, in Bell's Valley, just north of Goshen.

Joseph Bell died 18 Apr 1855. Rockbridge County, Virginia Cemeteries, South River and Walkers Creek Districts, by the Rockbridge Area Genealogical Society, 1999, under unmarked and other graves, page 242. Data from the Rockbridge County Historical Society files at the Washington and Lee University Library.

BCW believes his middle name was David. Waiting for documentation.

The use of middle names in the 18th century was not common. To my somewhat extensive research into the this Bell Family Joseph is never referred to in family or official records with a middle name. The post naming of Senior is also not a part of his name. the use of Junior and Senior were used to distinguish between older and younger of persons with the same given names and same surname who may or may not have been related.

References

1. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~stonechurchbells/page4.html
2. "Virginia Marriages, 1785-1940," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XR7Q-MMB : 5 December 2014), Joseph David Bell and Polly Nelson, 22 Jun 1800; citing Augusta, Virginia, reference ; FHL microfilm 30,415.
3. Find A Grave: Memorial #76623618 https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/76623618/joseph-bell
4. https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Joseph_Bell_%2825%29
5. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bell-6391